In treatment
by atypist
Summary: Bobby cannot sleep. This story complements "Reel." Some snippets of Bobby and Alex, leading into season 8. come on April 19 .
1. Chapter 1

**_[prompt, What does your partner do that worries you?]_**

"She answers the phone when I call."

"_Why does that worry you?"_

"I call at odd hours."

"_You said_ _you were a police detective, and she's your partner. You must work odd hours."_

"Yes."

"_Yes, what?"_

"Yes, we work odd hours."

"_Well, then why does it worry you that she answers the phone when you call?"_

He looks away, pretending to think, but really trying not to think. "She shouldn't always answer the phone."

"_Why's that?"_

"I call at odd hours."

"_You said that." _

"Right." He looks back. "I just need something to help with sleep."

"_You said that when you sat down." _

"I know. So?"

"_We'll get to that." _

"When?"

"_What do you mean by odd hours?"_

"I can't sleep."

"_So you call your partner?"_

"I guess so."

"_You guess?"_

"Yeah, I guess. I don't… …look, I'm not here to talk about my partner."

"_Okay."_

He sits for a long silence, and then blurts, "I don't always remember talking to her, but then the next day, she'll say something that makes me think I've talked to her. She can do that, you know. She can know things about me just because we've been partners for a while. But…"

"_You just said you don't always remember talking to her. Why don't you remember?"_

"I'm not here to talk about that."

"_You can't sleep."_

"I can't sleep."

"_What've you been doing to help with sleep?"_

"**I'm. Here.**" He states the words slowly, emphatically.

"_What else?"_

"What do you mean?"

"_You call your partner at odd hours, and you're worried that she always answers. You don't always remember calling."_

"I don't want to talk about my partner. I'm not in couples therapy. I need something to help me sleep."

"_We'll get to that."_

_**~tbc**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_[prompt, Discuss how you feel about public displays of affection]_**

"_Bobby, sit down."_

"Sure."

"_What was that?"_

"What was what?"

"_You bristled."_

"What?"

"_When I asked you to sit down."_

"You didn't really ask."

"_My tone was light, my gesture was open, I even modulated my voice up at the end to make it more of a suggestion."_

"You used my given name."

"_Not exactly, I called you Bobby. You said you preferred that over Robert."_

"Yes, yes I do."

"_Then?"_

"Not many people call me Bobby."

"_What do they call you?"_

"Detective."

"_I'm not calling you Detective."_

"I call you Doctor."

"_That's your choice. I invited you to call me by my given name. What else do they call you?"_

"Goren."

"_Who calls you Bobby?"_

"My mother used to." He pauses. "My brother used to."

"_Why does it sound like an order when someone calls you by your first name?"_

"What?"

"_I asked you to sit down, it wasn't my tone, my gesture, it was the use of your first name."_

"Not many people call me by my first name."

"_You said that."_

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"_Sometimes the use of a first name is a sign of affection."_

"Affection?"

"_Yes."_

"My mother didn't use it as a term of affection."

"_What did she call you?"_

"What?"

"_Out of affection."_

"She didn't call me anything at all."

"_How so?"_

"If things were right, she'd simply start talking to me, or reading to me, or whatever. She used my name to get my attention."

"_Anyone else call you by your first name?"_

"Eames."

"_Eames?"_

"My partner."

"_Right, you just called her Eames. You use her last name?"_

"Her name is Alex, though yes, I guess, I call her Eames."

"_And she calls you Bobby."_

"Not often."

"_But when she does?"_

"It's to get my attention."

"_The same as your mother?"_

"No. Not at all. The opposite from my mother." He takes a deep breath. "But I'm not here to talk about my mother or my partner."

"_Right."_

"I need to get something to help me sleep."

"_We'll get to that."_

"When?"

~tbc


	3. Chapter 3

**_[Prompt, Do you listen to your partner?]_**

**_*_**

"_How are you feeling today?"_

"How do I look?"

_"Do you want me to answer that?"_

"No, not really."

"_Good. Let's start again. How are you feeling today?"_

"Tired."

"_Tired?"_

"I'm not sleeping."

"_Say a bit more about that."_

"I can't sleep. I don't know what I'm supposed to say about that."

"_How is it affecting you?"_

"I can't focus. I can see people are talking to me, but their words don't enter my head."

"_You're having a hard time listening."_

"Yes, I guess."

"_And you think that's because you can't sleep."_

"What?"

"_Have you always had a hard time listening? That is, before the not sleeping."_

"I need something to help me sleep."

"_You said that."_

"I know."

"_About the having a hard time listening thing…"_

"What about it?"

"_You think that began when you started having problems with sleep?"_

"I don't know."

"_You seem like a man who probabl y knows."_

"I'm a good listener."

"_That's good."_

"It's my job, to listen to people, to figure out what they're really saying."

"_Oh."_

"What the hell does 'oh' mean?"

"_It's interesting how you put that. That's not actually very good listening. When people are talking, you are thinking about what they really mean. It makes it kind of hard to listen."_

"What?"

"_If you're thinking, you're probably projecting your thoughts into their words, you are figuring, perhaps not exactly listening."_

"I'm talking about interrogating suspects."

"_I know that. Are you a good listener when you're not in cop mode?"_

"What?"

"_Are you always thinking about what someone might really mean instead of simply listening to them. Like take your partner for example…"_

"I'm not talking about her."

"_I know. I am. Does she think you're a good listener?"_

"I don't know, ask her."

"_I'm asking you."_

"She doesn't exactly talk a lot."

"_When she does talk, do you listen to what she's saying?"_

"I try." He hedges, thinking about all the times recently he hasn't wanted to hear what he thinks she has to say.

"_That's good. It's important to work on the things we do not think we're good at."_

"I just need something to help me sleep."

"_I know."_

"Good, so you'll give me something."

"_We'll get to that." _


	4. Chapter 4

**Note.** Relates to the story "Undone" Chapter 6. Footedness (from Eames POV). [www. fanfiction. net /s/4942577/6/Undone] (*need to collapse the spaces to use the link)

**[Prompt, knock yourself out]**

*****

"_Good morning."_

"I guess."

"_You guess?"_

"Yeah."

"_You guess that it's morning or that it's good."_

"Either."

"_What?"_

"Both?"

"_Are you drunk?"_

"What?"

"_I think you heard me."_

"Not anymore." He pauses. "Last night."

"_It's 8:00 in the morning."_

"Right, so?"

"_So, you were drunk last night but not anymore."_

"Not as drunk as I was last night."

"_Perhaps we should reschedule."_

"I just need something to help me sleep."

"_I know that. Did you sleep last night?"_

"Why?"

"_I wondered if drinking was working for you as a sleep medication."_

"If you're not going to help me with something for sleep then I don't know why I'm coming here."

"_I am helping you with sleep. I'm just not prescribing anything."_

"I would like a prescription."

"_What would you chase that with?"_

"What the hell kind of shrink are you?"

"_I'm sure you read up on me. Would you like for me to be all vague and reflective and echo your words at you?"_

"No."

"_Good, at least we agree on that. Now, about rescheduling."_

"I work the rest of the week, today is my day off."

_Silence._

"If I could just sleep."

"_You mean if you could just knock yourself out."_

"Yeah."

"_Is that what you're here for?"_

"Yes." He pauses. "No."

"_What happened with last night?"_

"I don't know. Was home, ordered a pizza."

"_You got drunk off pizza?"_

"No." He sits down. "I called my partner about a theory on this case we're working. I don't think she believes people are footed."

"_You mean like handedness, people tend to favor or lead with a foot."_

"Exactly." He's pleased someone knows about footedness. "I don't think she thinks it's a word – footedness."

"_So was that before, or um, after the pizza. And I'm using the word pizza as a euphemism for getting drunk."_

"After."

"_You must be a joy to work with."_

"I am." His reply is sarcastic. He pauses and softly continues. "I'm good at my job."

_"I believe you are good at your job." The reply is serious._ "_How long do you think that will be given this whole not sleeping thing."_

"Is that a euphemism?"

"_For?"_

"Drinking."

"_I tell you what, let's reschedule and we can work on that."_


	5. Chapter 5

_**prompt, But it's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then (**__**Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)**_

*

"_How long have you been having problems with sleep?"_

"A few weeks."

_Silence._

"A few months."

_Silence._

"Longer."

"_Longer?"_

"My head hurts."

"_How badly?"_

"Bad enough. I need to get some sleep."

"_You think your head hurts because you haven't been sleeping?"_

"Is this the chicken or the egg?"  
_  
"You tell me."_

"Turn it around. My head hurts so I can't sleep."

"_So you would like for me to give you something for your headache?"_

"No, I would like for you to help me get some sleep."

"_What did you do last night?"_

"I didn't sleep much."

"_That's clear, what else?"_

"Went out for a while."

"_What'd you do?"  
_  
"I don't know."

"_You don't know or you don't feel like saying?"_

"Both."

"_The head ache, would you describe it as a migraine?"_

"No."

"_Dehydration?"_

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"_You tell me."_

"Maybe."

"_Was there something that changed that precipitated the whole, um, not sleeping?"_

"What do you mean by not sleeping?"

"_Take it as you will. Was there something that changed?"_

"Everything changed."

"_Everything always changes, kind of goes along with the earth spinning."_

"My mother died."

"_That was longer than a few months ago."_

"I said it was longer."

"_You did."_

"My brother died."  
_  
__"That was a few months ago."_

"Yes."

"_When's the last time you slept well?"_

"I don't know. Why are you asking that? I'm not sleeping now, that's what you, uh, we, well I, I need to fix."

"_Good."_

"What?"

"_The way you turned the pronoun in that around."_

"I'm not very good at turning things around. I need to sleep."

"_We're getting to that."_

_*_

A/N: Therapy can be brutal and circular and infuriating. Kind of like this.


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